KEVAN Hurst wants Southend United to take their unbeaten run in to double figures when they visit Fleetwood Town on Saturday.

But the in-form winger fears Blues' task has been tougher by the dismissal of Micky Mellon as Town's manager.

Mellon was dismissed after three successive defeats.

And Hurst is concerned that could give Fleetwood an extra edge to their play this weekend.

“When a team loses their manager they seem to get a sudden burst of good results,” said the 27-year-old.

“That's obviously a concern for us going in to the weekend and I think their manager losing his job has definitely made it a harder match for us.

“They've been doing well though so it would have been a tough match anyway.

“They're in the play-off places so it was something of a surprise their manager got sacked.

“I think it goes to show how ambitious their chairman is but we're going there in good form after not losing in nine games and want to keep it going.”

Blues have risen up to fifth in the League Two table following their recent run of impressive results.

And, last time out, they also saw off League One Brentford in the southern section quarter final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

Hurst scored one and helped to make the other in an unexpected win for Paul Sturrock's side and he was delighted to help Southend come out on top.

“It was nice to get a victory and nice for me to get a goal as well,” said Hurst, who netted a stunning shot from 25 yards.

“I'm actually better shooting from long range than I am going through one on one like against AFC Wimbledon the other week.

“It was even better that it helped us win the game and get us in to the semi-finals.

“This is now an excellent opportunity for us to get to Wembley and they don't come around too often so we want to try and make the most of it.”

Hurst is also desperate to make it to the home of English football to make up for the bad experiences he has already endured at the world famous stadium.

“I should have played there four times but I've played there once with Scunthorpe in the JPT final against Luton and we lost,” said Hurst.

“Two other times I got injured before we played there and another time I wasn't picked to play so hopefully I can get there with Southend and put things right.”